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So I’ve made a new account on SEA under a pseudonym as I’ve maxed out all lines (bar CVs) to test out the new player experience and replay the RU DD line as the low tier ones were such fun first time around.

I really think WG have done a great job of making the game really fun for new players. Every other game you’re ranking up and unlocking new abilities from signals to camo and captains to upgrades. All the while enjoying the devil may care low tier play style.

At tiers 2, 3 and 4 I frequently found myself in games with more bots than humans - with some pretty hilarious results...

...and then I found myself at Tier V with an A hull Podvoisky and a 4 point captain fighting Atlantas, Scharnhorsts and the like.

Now, I’m a very experienced player and I found the going extremely tough. I can only imagine how someone with fewer than 50 games may feel going from being highly effective to borderline useless. Being dropped into tier 7 matches happened three games straight and all I could think was how quickly the initial positive experience had degraded into an entirely frustrating one.

This cannot be good for player retention and War Gaming should seriously consider preferential match making for new players to prevent people from just table flipping and walking away.

I have always said there is a huge spike in the WoWs learning curve at around tiers 4-5.

Suddenly you are fighting ships two tiers higher than you, armour and angling start to matter, CVs start appearing, BBs get a lot more accurate, etc.

That, and a lot of the more experienced player base hangs around that level, with ships like Atlanta, Sims, Belfast. Players who likely have T8 to 10 ships, but use that level to grind captains and credits, or just have fun without the pressure of a T10 match, or the annoyance of being up tiered to a T10 in a Tier 8.